PERICARDITIS IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Background : Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the joints, and extra-articular features are also very common . RA is associated with an increased mortality , the majority of which is originating from cardiovascular diseases . The most common cardiac involvement in RA is pericarditis . Varying the method of assessment pericarditis occurs in 30–50% of the patients.

Objective : To study prevalence of pericarditis in Rheumatoid arthritis patients , by echocardiography

Methods: A Prospective observational study , conducted in department of general medicine  GMC Srinagar , from 2016 to 2018.  110 patients of rheumatoid arthritis were enrolled in this study.

Results : Out of 110 patients , 49 % had some form of heart involvement , pericardial effusion was present in 9.1 % of patients. Female to male ratio was 3.6:1 , there were 24 (22%) males and 86 (78%) females, there was no significant relationship between gender and abnormal echocardiography findings in RA patients (p > 0.05)

Conclusion : Prevalence of pericarditis was present in only 9.1% patients in our study , which is less compared to the previous studies. It is most likely because our patients were on DMARD and their disease was well controlled .Most of the previous studies date back to 70 and 80s , when DMARDS were not available and likely because of that pericarditis was very common.